Call analysis is an important feature of modern telecommunications networks. There exist various motives for call analysis. As an example, network operators may want to ensure that the calls within their networks meet certain Quality of Service, QoS, standards. Also, lawful interception has increasingly gained importance from the perspective of national security agencies. Last not least, there is an interest in analyzing calls for commercial purposes.
Call analysis can be performed at various places within a telecommunications network. Typically, the information that needs to be gathered also determines the place where the call analysis framework is implemented. However, also other constraints such as privacy concerns need to be considered when installing the call analysis framework. From a privacy perspective, it would be desirable to decouple call analysis from call processing in the telecommunications core network. Such a decoupling is particularly desirable for security reasons in case the call analysis results will need to be provided to parties external to the network operator domain.
In one variant, the call analysis framework may be installed on a separate call analysis node inside or outside the telecommunications core network. Such a deployment is advantageous from various perspectives. For example, the operational nodes of the core network are not burdened with any call analysis processing. Moreover, external parties can be provided with access to the call analysis node without security concerns for the core network. Importantly, also privacy-related regulations can more easily be implemented as the call analysis node may ensure that call-related data are aggregated anonymously.